This invention relates to sealing surfaces and, in particular, to sealing surfaces such that the seal may be easily disengaged and engaged in order to access the surfaces and the structure below the seal as needed without damaging the seal, the surfaces or the structure.
Many applications require sealing surfaces that may have to be accessed at a later time. Such sealing is typical in applications requiring a smooth or aerodynamic shape, such as air, water and land vehicles, and other structures. In addition, the surfaces of various types of objects, such as air, water and land vehicles, and other structures may have to be coated in order to protect the objects. For instance, the objects may require protection from environmental elements.
An aircraft has service panels and doors that are typically fastened in place, with various types of fasteners, such as bolts. The entire aircraft, including the service panels and doors, is then coated with the several layers of coatings, such as with several layers of paint to provide a smooth, aerodynamic surface.
In order to preform maintenance or repairs on the aircraft, the service panels and doors must be accessed. Because the fasteners of the service panels and doors are buried under several layers of coatings, however, the service panels and doors cannot be accessed without removing the layers of coatings from at least the area surrounding the service panels and doors, including those areas in which the fasteners are installed. The coatings, and therefore the smooth aerodynamic surface, is damaged when accessing the service panels and doors. Thus, once the maintenance is completed, the damaged coatings must be replaced, such as by reapplying the layers of paint over the damaged areas. To obtain a smooth, aerodynamic surface again, however, the reapplication of the coatings is a time-consuming, labor intensive, and therefore, expensive process.
Thus, there exists a need in the industry for a technique for more easily accessing various parts of an object, such as service panels and doors, that are secured by means of fasteners and the like, and that have previously been coated, such as with one or more layers of paint.